TECHNOLOGY
The constant data streams through the analytics tools also allow the monitoring team to identify trends and make assessments based on those trends . For example , monitoring of a continuous miner could show that the cutter head is sagging over time ( more than 15cm in an hour ), allowing this to be addressed before it becomes a safety risk and also before the production rate deteriorates . Such
Komatsu Mining
Komatsu Mining ’ s mobile application has three core areas : reports , messages , and contacts . events generate a ‘ first snapshot notification ’ ( FSN ), which Wilsch and his team can then send through to the mine , together with a brief description of the problem and how it should be addressed . These FSNs can also be set for automatic sending through to the customer , as well as the Komatsu Mining technician on site , depending on their preferences , although the monitoring team will still follow up with the customer to ensure that it has been received .
The real-time monitoring also allows the team to pick up on potential risks in operation , such as short snaking in longwall mining , for example , and contact the customer to address those potential issues before they result in costly downtime .
Wilsch explains that certain events , such as methane detection , can be set to trip or stop the machine , requiring the operator to restart it manually after checking the event that caused the trip . While the machines themselves have production timing and condition indication lights , the in-depth data is not directly accessible by the operator , although depending on the customer ’ s operation and tier , it may be accessible in their on-site control room or similar . Komatsu Mining also has on-site technicians and monitoring specialists for some of its clients , who are there to deal directly with the customer regarding the issues raised by the monitored data and analytics tools .
Mobile application
The company has a mobile app for iOS and Android smartphones that is available for use in certain applications in the region .
“ The application features a sliding menu so it ’ s easy to get into ,” says Alex Nienaber , JoySmart Services IT engineer . “ We identified three core areas for the first version of the app , namely reports , messages , and contacts . The messages section uses push notifications , and we have created a small database on your smartphone that stores the top 10 rolling notifications sent via the app . This was done to counteract the problem that you often get with push notifications , which is that you can get too many coming in too quickly and once you have clicked on them they are no longer available . With our system , you can go back and look at the messages again .”
The app uses the notification hubs technology that forms part of Microsoft Azure cloud computing , allowing messages to be sent to iOS , Android , and Windows systems ,
Komatsu Mining
The reports for Komatsu Mining ’ s mobile application are customisable and display information such as production section , status , and machine health , at levels ranging from managerial to field reports .
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JULY 2017